April 25/04 7:19 am - Tour de Georgia: Stage7

Gord Fraser (Health Net) finished the Tour de Georgia the same way he started, with a stage win. By doing so, he clinched the Points Jersey, ahead of Ivan Dominguez (Colavita-Bolla Wines). Despite Fraser's impressive win, all eyes were on yellow jersey wearer Lance Armstrong (US Postal), who finished safely in the peloton, surrounded by his team mates.

The final stage wound its way south from Dawsonville to the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, over 145 kilometres of lightly rolling terrain, and finishing on a 5.9 kilometre circuit which the riders covered 4 times. Fraser took both intermediate sprints, effectively locking up the overall Points title before the finish.

The finish was hard after six days and 1048 kilometres of racing, with the riders facing an uphill run for the final 250 metres, out of a gentle right hand curve. Navigators started the wind-up for the finish for Vassili Davidenko, with Domina Vacanze taking over over for Cipollini in the final two kilometres. But Cipo came up short on the hill, finishing third behind Fraser and Juan Jose Haedo (Colavita-Bolla Wines).

Fraser described the finish:

"Navigators was doing a good job for Davidenko, and then Domina Vacanze took over with one kilometre to go. It was a little more chaotic than the usual flat finish. I was on a Colavita rider, who I assumed was Ivan, but it was Juan. Juan is pretty fast himself, and he was on Cipollini's wheel, so it was a good place to be. I just had to come by them at the end, about 50 metres out."

Cipollini stayed left, on the slightly steeper (but shorter) side of the climb, while Fraser and Haedo swung to the shallower right side, going longer, but picking up enough speed for both to get by Cipollini.

Race Notes

- Mario Cipollini did not show up for the awards ceremony, and was fined 200 CHF (Swiss francs), plus forfeiting Stage 7 prize money.

- The announcers were saying the crowds were over 50,000 on the finishing circuit.

- In the post-race press conference, Armstrong was asked about the Tour de Georgia and his Tour de France preparation. "I was surprised how many people there were - thousands, tens of thousands, it was fantastic. It's always nice to win, but it is even better to meet objectives like having a good time trial. I wish we could have more races like this, so we could come over here, and get the Euros to come, and we could use it for preparation for races like the Tour de France. For my prep for the Tour, things might be running a little hot right now, and we'll have to back it off a little."

He also said, regarding his plans for next season: "If the team continues, I'll continue", referring to the announcement by US Postal on Friday that they would not be sponsoring the team after this year.

- Davis Phinney, Olympic bronze medalist, Tour de France stage winner, and winner of over 300 career victories, came up on stage. Phinney is suffering from Parkinson's Disease, and has launched a Foundation to raise money to fight this disease. You can visit his website at www.davisphinneyfoundation.com.